Show HN: Usage4Claude – Monitor Claude AI usage from macOS menu bar

English | 日本語 | 简体中文 | 繁體中文

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• 📊 Real-time Monitoring - Display Claude subscription's 5-hour usage quota in menu bar
• 🎨 Smart Colors - Automatic color changes based on usage (green/orange/red)
• ⏰ Precise Timing - Quota reset time displayed with minute precision
• 🔄 Smart/Fixed Refresh - Intelligent 4-level adaptive refresh or fixed intervals (1/3/5/10 min)
• 💻 Native Experience - Pure native macOS app, lightweight and elegant

Works seamlessly with all Claude products:

• 🌐 Claude.ai (Web interface)
• 💻 Claude Code (CLI tool for developers)
• 🖥️ Desktop App (macOS/Windows)
• 📱 Mobile App (iOS/Android)

All platforms share the same usage quota, monitored in one place!

• 🕓 Multiple Display Modes

  • Percentage Only - Clean and intuitive, view at a glance
  • Icon Only - Subtle and elegant, detailed info on click
  • Icon + Percentage - Complete information, quick visual identification

• 🌍 Multilingual Support

  • English
  • 日本語
  • 简体中文
  • 繁体中文
  • More languages coming soon...

• ⚙️ Visual Settings - No code modification needed, GUI configuration for all options
• 🆕 Auto Update Check - Stay up-to-date with latest versions and features
• 👋 Friendly Onboarding - Detailed setup wizard on first launch
• … Menu Display - Multiple menu access methods, detail view and right-click

• 🏠 Local Storage Only - All data stored locally only, never collect or upload any personal information
• 🔐 Keychain Protection - Sensitive information secured in Keychain, no plain text keys
• 📖 Open Source Transparency - Code fully public, anyone can audit
• 🛡️ Sandbox Protection - App Sandbox enabled for enhanced security

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Ring Color Indicators:

🟢 Green (0-69%) - Safe usage

🟠 Orange (70-89%) - Monitor usage

🔴 Red (90-100%) - Approaching limit

General - Customize display, refresh, and language options
Authentication - Configure Claude account authentication
About - Version info and related links

Set Up Authentication - Go directly to authentication settings to complete setup
Set Up Later - Close welcome screen, configure later in settings

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1. Go to Releases page
2. Download the latest .dmg file
3. Double-click to open, drag app to Applications folder
4. Right-click the app and select "Open" on first launch (allow unsigned app)
5. Allow Keychain access for authentication info (Need to allow again after version updates. Authorization prompt appears twice: Organization ID, Session Key)

• macOS 13.0 or later
• Xcode 15.0 or later
• Git

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1. Launch App
   Welcome screen will appear on first run

2. Configure Authentication
   Click "Go to Authentication Settings" button

3. Get Required Info

   • Click "Open Claude Usage Page in Browser"
   • Open browser developer tools (press F12 or Cmd + Option + I)
   • Switch to "Network" tab
   • Refresh the page
   • Find request named usage
   • View Headers and find:
     • sessionKey=sk-ant-... value in Cookie
     • Organization ID in URL (format: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx)

4. Enter Information

   • Paste Organization ID into "Organization ID" field
   • Paste Session Key into "Session Key" field
   • Monitoring will start automatically after configuration

• Default Display - Menu bar shows usage percentage
• View Details - Click menu bar icon or percentage
• Show Menu - Click "…" icon in detail window or right-click menu bar icon
• Check Updates - Menu → Check for Updates
• Quit App - Menu → Quit

Smart Frequency (Recommended)

• Automatically adjusts refresh rate based on usage patterns
• Active mode (1 min) - Fast refresh when actively using Claude
• Idle modes (3/5/10 min) - Progressively slower refresh when idle
• Significantly reduces API calls during idle periods (up to 10x)
• Instantly returns to 1-minute refresh when usage detected

Fixed Frequency

• 1 minute - Recommended for consistent monitoring
• 3 minutes - Balanced monitoring
• 5 minutes - Low frequency monitoring
• 10 minutes - Minimal API calls

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Q: What if the app shows "Session Expired"?

A: Session Keys expire periodically (usually weeks to months), need to re-obtain:

1. Open Settings → Authentication
2. Follow configuration guide to get new Session Key
3. Paste new Session Key

Q: How to enable auto-launch on startup?

A:

1. Open System Settings → General → Login Items
2. Click "+" to add Usage4Claude

Q: How much system resources does it use?

A: Very lightweight:

• CPU Usage: < 0.1% (idle)
• Memory: ~20MB
• Network: Only 1 request per minute

Q: Which macOS versions are supported?

A: Requires macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later. Supports both Intel and Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) chips.

Q: Why does it need Keychain permission?

A:

• Keychain is macOS's system-level password manager
• Your Session Key and Organization ID are encrypted in Keychain
• This is Apple's recommended secure storage method
• Only this app can access the information, other apps cannot view it

Q: Is my data safe? How is privacy protected?

Completely safe!

Data Storage:

• All data stored only on your local Mac
• No collection, no tracking, no statistics of any information
• No network requests except Claude API calls
• No third-party services used

Authentication Security:

• Session Key encrypted via macOS Keychain (system-level encryption)
• Keychain uses AES-256 encryption + hardware protection (T2 / Secure Enclave)
• Only this app can access your credentials, other apps cannot read them
• You can revoke access anytime via "Keychain Access" app

Code Transparency:

• 100% open source
• No obfuscation or hidden features
• Community can audit and verify

Additional Protection:

• App Sandbox enabled (limits system access)
• No access to your files, contacts, or other apps
• Minimal permissions (only network + Keychain)

You can verify all of this by reviewing the source code on GitHub!

Q: Does it work with Claude Code / Desktop App / Mobile App?

A: Yes, it works with all Claude platforms!

Since all Claude products (Web, Claude Code, Desktop App, Mobile App) share the same 5-hour usage quota, Usage4Claude monitors your combined usage across all platforms.

Whether you're:

• Coding in terminal with claude code
• Chatting on claude.ai
• Using the desktop app
• Using mobile apps

You'll see your real-time total usage in the menu bar. No platform-specific configuration needed!

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Built with modern macOS native technologies:

• Language: Swift 5.0+
• UI Framework: SwiftUI + AppKit hybrid
• Architecture: MVVM
• Networking: URLSession
• Reactive: Combine Framework
• Localization: Built-in i18n support
• Platform: macOS 13.0+

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• Basic monitoring features
• Menu bar real-time display
• Circular progress indicator
• Smart color alerts
• Real-time countdown
• Multiple menu bar display modes
• Visual settings interface
• Multilingual support
• First-launch onboarding
• Update checking
• Keychain authentication storage

1. Feature Enhancement

   • 🚧 Auto-launch on startup setting
   • 🚧 Keyboard shortcuts

2. Developer

   • 🚧 Shell auto-package DMG
   • 🚧 GitHub Actions auto-release

3. Display Optimization

   • Settings interface
   • Dark mode
   • Detail window Focus state

4. Feature Addition

   • 7-day usage monitoring support (OAuth・Opus)
   • Usage notifications
   • More language localizations

5. Auto Setup

• Browser extension for auto-authentication
• Automatic credential configuration

6. More Display Methods

   • Desktop widgets
   • Browser extension icon usage display

7. Data Analysis

   • Usage history records
   • Trend charts

8. Multi-platform Support

   • iOS / iPadOS version
   • Apple Watch version
   • Windows version

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All contributions are welcome! Whether it's new features, bug fixes, or documentation improvements.

For detailed contribution guidelines, please see CONTRIBUTING.md.

1. Fork this repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Thanks to all who have contributed to this project!

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For detailed version history and updates, please see CHANGELOG.md.

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If this project helps you, please support in the following ways:

Giving a star is the biggest encouragement!

If you like this project, please share it with more people!

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This project is licensed under the MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

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• Thanks to Claude AI - Most code written by AI
• Thanks to all contributors and users for their support
• Icon design inspired by Claude AI official branding

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• Issues: Submit issues or suggestions
• Discussions: Join discussions
• GitHub: @f-is-h

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This project is an independent third-party tool with no official affiliation with Anthropic or Claude AI. Please comply with Claude AI's Terms of Service when using this software.

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